Seeking Other Sources

First of all I am writing this from the position of someone that has already been through high school and never had the chance to use such a tool as ControlBooth.
Second of all my main stance on what I am about to comment on needs to stay VERY NEUTRAL AND NOT START ARGUMENTS and well just plain somehow keep it POLITICALLY SAFE I should say.
Thirdly I know that recently and in the past I am a person who's comments can be taken way out of context to some people. So read this carefully.
So with all that said try to keep an open mind with what I am about to write even if you are a pure newbie that is touching a Mackie for the first time or someone like SHIP who by reading any of his forums anyone can tell he's been in the biz for more than just a decade.

My main point of this topic of seeking other sources is to be sort of a inspiration to many people who are still learning this trade which includes myself and everyone else on this site! Face it if you think you know everything then get out of this industry, I try to at least learn something new everyday! That even means it doesn't have to be from my department.

With all that said.. I am trying to get across to a lot of people that there are soo soo many sources of information out there besides just this site. I see some people who cite books, and some of those books have been wrong. So in that case cross refrence material. I HAVE SEEEN MANY a topics started on many a forums that could EASILY have been answered by typing thoughts into GOOGLE or even going to manufacture websites. Hell I spent almost a whole semester of a class rumaging around the internet learning about audio, YOU would truly be amzed at some of the stuff you can find out there surfin the web. LIke one of my all time favorites that any audio nerd should bookmark which is http://www.audiodirectory.nl/ .

For those of you who don't know this by now whether you live in the US or wherever in the Blueberry Globe you might live there are several publications that deal with Audio and Lighting to name a few: Live sound, FOH, Pro Sound, PLSN (Pro Lights and Staging News), TPUS (Total Production US) and many many more but not on channel 4... and guess what??? THEY ARE ALL FREE! (or at least mine were) Not only that but they are jam packed with information that even boggles smarter people than me! The best thing is they are all free, and you get to feel all warm and fuzzy by putting "BILLY JOE" "ENGINEER" @ "THE SEVEN DWARF CLUBHOUSE"

Mainly what I am trying to say is for a lot of new people I'm just showing other ways that YOU can chock... no OVERLOAD your brain full of information pertainting to just about every sector of this industry.

HAVE FUN AND LEARN SOMETHING NEW!!!

Now that I'm full from Denny's I must hit the dustry trusty trail, hit the hay so I can get up and go to a gig tomorrow! I'm a learning to culture, so I see that some Aussie's and I think England people say mate. But, we midwest country boy folk say Yee BOY GIVE ER HELL!!!

I think Curls Has a great Point. Tha fact that this is an EXCELLENT resource for information and input, is not negated by acknowledging that there are a ton of resources out in the world, not the least of which is that great resource between your ears. Always remember, a problem or technical issue is just a point and there are an infinite number of manners in which one can approach it. I hope you will always understand that any advice / comments / input that I place on here is to be taken only as ONE possible solution. I draw on new books, old books and even books unrelated to "Our field" all the time. < Draw as in draw on them for knowledge not with crayons , that would be bad.> I have often found that the best way to solve many an issue is to not re-invent the wheel, but to copy someone elses new take on it. That's why we are in a "creative" Field.

Van J. McQueen
Project Manager
Stagecraft Industries, Inc."The only Dumb Question is the one you don't ask."All opinions expressed here by Van J. McQueen are his and his alone, and do not representthe official opinions, positions or Values of Stagecraft Industries, Inc. So there, Nyah!

I agree with Curls. I sometimes find it frustrating that some people on Forums have not done a basic search for the information before posting.

For example on another forum a person posted that they had seen an article on DMX512 over Cat5 but couldn't remember where. I put "DMX512 over Cat5" into google and the article he was looking for was in the first three results.

Another pet peeve is when they ask a question without providing basic information and expect to be helped. On another forum at the moment a person posted that they were having trouble with their colour changers when they changed between scenes on the control board. They provided no information as to what any of the equipment was. So you land up wasting time by posting a request to them for more info. Then you have to wait for them to reply then you can finally answer their question.

I enjoy helping people through forums but it can be frustrating when you have to wipe their noses for them because they are to lazy get out their hankies.

Gripe over. I actually find ControlBooth posters are normally better at how they post their questions then some other forums I go on.

I was thinking about this topic a couple of months ago and was wondering about setting it as a poll.

The question would be something like:
When you have a problem with a piece of equipment what is the first source of information you turn to.

I thought the choices would be something like this:
Get and read the manual
Ask another person at your location
Ask the question on a forum.

While I generally agree with the original post and the subsequent comments, a few considerations in defense of many queries:

1. I believe many people have become accustomed to fast answers. Computers, email, cell phones, and the internet have allowed for seemingly immediate results.

2. Search engines return so much dross that is difficult to sort through. Good factual articles, brief summaries, plagiarized/repeated material, and sales pitches are mixed together in the search engine returns. Placing a question here first may lead to more focused searches later.

3. Using the Search feature on this message board is probably under-utilized. On the other hand, opinions change, members change, experiences change, equipment models and features change. The most recent post of a searched-for thread may be 6 months to a year old. Although the information still good, there may well be newer information or different opinions.

4. Knowledge falls into three main categories (and I don’t know who proposed this): there are things you know, things you don’t know, and things you don’t know that you don’t know. One of the main advantages of posting a question to a forum like this is that many responders will provide information, references, and ask questions that one hasn’t even thought about at the start of the post. Reducing that third category is as important as reducing the second and expanding the first.

5. Trying to respond to a poorly supported question may be frustrating, but often the original poster may simply not realize what is relevant. One should simply take the high road and chock these up to naivety, inexperience, or desperation.